


He Is Like A Fire

by emperorkyloren



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Emperor Kylo Ren, Empress Rey, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kinda, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Rey Doesn't Really Hate Kylo Ren, Rey says yes, Slow Burn, but he hates himself, kylo ren has a dirty mouth, kylo wants her to rule with him, picks up towards the end of TLJ, rey wants to hold kylo, reylo love, time jumps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:35:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emperorkyloren/pseuds/emperorkyloren
Summary: He is like a fire, hot and angry and painful in her mind, constantly there, constantly tugging at her. She doesn't know how much longer she can resist him. She doesn't even know if she wants to anymore."Okay," she breathes, so quiet she's not even sure that she's said it aloud.His hand is still extended between them and sweat is pouring from his brow."What?" he whispers, his eyes wide and the Force between them shakes.She speaks louder, more confidently."I said, okay. I'll join you."
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. You're Not Alone

“I should have felt trapped or panicked, but I didn’t,” Rey breathes across the dimly lit room, the fire crackling loudly beside her, “this didn't go on forever. I knew it was leading somewhere. And that, at the end, it would show me what I came to see.”

She pulls the blanket tighter around herself, remembering the chill of the cave, the tight, aching feeling in her chest when it wasn’t her parents in that mirror, just her own reflection. “I thought I’d find answers here. I was wrong. I’d never felt so alone,” she whispers, staring into the floor, feeling small and insignificant under his gaze.

“You’re not alone,” his deep, baritone voice is much louder than her own and a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding escapes her. He looks nervous, kind even as he stares her down across the bond. But she knows better. He is a murderer, cold and ruthless, like a predator constantly hunting its prey. He’s killed thousands, innocent people, all in a mislead grasp for power and purpose. But here, in this cold room, the heat of the fire only slightly warmer than that radiating from his skin and his mind, burning her despite the distance between them, he almost seems like someone else. Like Ben.

“Neither are you,” she says, confidently, “it isn’t too late.” His gaze falls to the ground and briefly, an emotion that almost looks like fear crosses his pale features before his stoic gaze returns to meet hers.

Slowly, she extends her hand, knowing that trying to touch him across the bond may be futile, impossible, but wanting to comfort the man (boy?) who sits across from her now, feeling his pain and loneliness rolling off of him in waves of powerful energy through the Force. She thinks his pain and loneliness must be even harsher than her own. His gaze does not leave her as he removes his glove, reaches out, and touches the tips of his long, pale fingers to hers, sending a spark of electricity traveling straight up her arm and causing a gasp to fall from her lips. His expression is unchanging, but his fingertips are soft, a stark contrast to everything the man in front of her is –hard, unforgiving, rough. His hands dwarf hers and the thought briefly sends tingles up her spine to match those radiating from where they touch.

And then, a vision, clear and solid, appears inside her brain. Ben Solo, clean and pure and good, kissing her softly and gently, smiling down at her as she beams back and its short and its small, but she knows what it means, she knows he will turn. And then it’s gone, and he’s gone and the walls are crumbling around her. Her eyes snap up and there is Luke, the wind whipping his hair and the fury on his face tangible and burning in his Force signature. She stands quickly, recalling her conversation with Kylo earlier through the force bond, recalling the pain in his voice when he explained what Luke had done and sudden, unbridled rage rips through her.

“Is it true?” she shouts as the wind howls over the jagged points of the island. “Did you try to murder him?”

Luke’s face changes, from anger to guilt and back to anger. His voice quiet, but firm, “leave this island now.” He turns, barreling off towards his own hut, but she refuses to let go.

“Stop” she yells. He doesn’t, and her fury only grows. “STOP!!” she swings her bow staff, hitting him in the back of the head, perhaps harder than she intended. He turns, using the force to call the nearest lightning rod to his hand, turning towards her and blocking her next few swings. She changes tactics, gaining the upper hand and forcing him onto his back in front of her. Tears are streaming down her face now. Out of anger at Luke, sadness for Ben, or shame towards herself, she does not know.

“Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?” her voice is nearly entirely drowned by the incessant pummeling of the rain around them. Her master’s face is now awash in pain and guilt. He sighs, visibly recalling a memory. “I saw darkness. I'd sensed it building in him. I'd see it at moments during his training. But then I looked inside... and it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction, and pain, and death... and the end of everything I love because of what he would become. And for the briefest moment of pure instinct... I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame... and with consequence. And the last thing I saw... were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.”

She shudders at the thought of a frightened Ben Solo, staring up at his master, believing that everyone he loved had turned against him. Believing he was truly dark and evil. “You failed him by making him think his choice was made,” she breathes. “It wasn’t. There is still conflict in him. If he turned from the dark side, that could shift the tide. That could be how we win!” She can’t hide the twinge of excitement in her voice, the possibility that she could be right, that things could get better, that she could turn him.

“This is not going to go the way you think,” Luke scolded.

“Just now, when we touched hands,” she pauses, worried that what she is about to say will sound insane, “I saw his future. As solid as I’m seeing you. If I go to him, Ben Solo will turn.

Luke shakes his head, “Rey…don’t do this.”

She extends the lightsaber to him again, as she had done weeks before when he’d thrown it over his shoulder and ignored her pleads for help. He looks at it, back to her, and then away. She knows what that means.

“Then he’s our last hope,” she sighs and turns, making her way down the jagged rock towards the Falcon.

Aboard the ship, Chewbacca is sleeping soundly (and loudly) and she gently shakes his shoulder to wake him.

“Chewie, I have to go.”

The Wookiee sits up quickly. “Why?” he grumbles. “Go where?”

Rey shakes her head and sighs, “you won’t approve.” She smiles sadly at him and turns, returning to the pilot’s seat, flipping switches and preparing the old ship for takeoff.

Chewie pauses for a long time and then speaks from behind her. “You’re going to try to turn him…aren’t you?” he asks.

She whips her head around, staring at him incredulously. Her heart is beating loudly in her ears.

“How did you know that?”

“I just know. And you’re right,” he continues brusquely as he sits down next to her at the control panel, and turns to face her. “I don’t approve. He killed Han. But I also know that you don’t care what I think and that you’re going to do it anyways. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that boy back. Ben, not Kylo. I know what he did wasn't him. He was a good kid and its what Han would want,” he smiles sadly at the mention of his best friend. “So, where to?”

She jumps across the small space between their chairs and hugs Chewie tightly around the neck, smiling brightly into his fur. Across the bond she feels ripples of aching guilt, sorrow and loneliness. She shuts him out even further. 

“Snoke’s ship,” she says. “Punch it.” And then space is warping around them, the bright blue lights of stars whizzing by making her tired and she contemplates whether or not she is making the right decision. 

\---

The journey across hyperspace is short. Only a few hours to go. She goes to the back of the ship and prepares the small shuttle pod, making sure the coordinates are correct and it is equipped with all of the proper safety equipment. She lays her lightsaber down inside and walks to the bunks, where she curls up in a ball and stares at the wall. She tries to will sleep to come to her, she will need to be rested when facing Ren and Snoke, but it won't and she begins to feel a tug on the other end of the bond. She knows he will try to get her thoughts, her plans, knows he will try to read her as soon as she opens to him, so she keeps the gates of her mind closed tightly. Another hour passes and the tugging grows stronger and stronger, and it becomes more difficult to resist him as they grow closer in proximity. So she builds walls in her mind around any thought of her plans and then opens her mind to him, just a little, confident that he cannot break her.

 _Rey_ , he thinks and the word is loud and his mind is sharp against hers, flicking through her thoughts like pages in a book, searching as she knew he would, but finding nothing. She half expects to turn over and see him standing next to her bunk, staring down at her furiously, but she can tell he is keeping this in their minds. She isn't sure why. 

_What?_ she snaps back at him, harsher than she means to be. _Stop looking through my head, or I’m shutting you back out._

 _Where are you?_ he asks and she scoffs.

 _Where are YOU?_

_I asked you first._ Was that a joke? No, he sounds too angry - but? _You’re with Chewbacca again,_ his thoughts cut off her own. I _felt it. Which means you’re back aboard that Godsforsaken piece of shit my father called a ship._ The fury in his voice is now palpable through the Force and it almost makes her wince.

 _So what if I am?_ she spits, furious and confused at his words and his thoughts and the contempt that she feels within them. _What I am doing is of no concern to you._ Why is he so angry suddenly? she wonders. Too loudly, because he answers her thoughts across the bond. 

_I can feel you in the Force. You’re close now. Why?_ He asks, his voice is mocking and cold and accusatory. She shuts off her side of their connection, pushing him quickly from her mind and the absence of him leaves a dark, gaping hole. He was getting too close, too deep in her mind. She had to cut him off. They were nearing The Supremacy now anyhow. She makes her way to the cockpit in silence, planning the moves she will make after arriving on board that terrifying monster of a ship. She will exit her pod quickly, and make her way to his quarters, following his force signature so they can speak privately. Provided she can keep herself closed off from the Force well enough that he does not sense her.

“Chewie?” she speaks softly as she enters the cockpit. “I think it’s time.”

He turns to face her, putting the ship on autopilot and walking back through the corridors alongside her.

She climbs down into the small pod that feels just a little too much like a coffin for her liking. She smiles up at the Wookiee, who nods in encouragement shuts the pod, sending her jetting into space and towards The Supremacy.


	2. Something Else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! 
> 
> I know not a ton of people have read this book so far and I know that it's taken me quite a while to post Chapter 2, but I was on a little vacation with my family. However, I wanted to thank those of you that have read this and have left Kudos! It means a lot! I promise to try to write more often for all of you Reylo lovers! ♡

Rey's little 'coffin' floats through the blast doors of the giant ship easily. 

_Too easily?_

She almost thinks she hears a scoff echo through the force, a cold laugh, and she cringes. 

The pod hits the ground roughly, bumping the skin of her biceps against the cool metal, her arms crossed over her chest, making her feel even more like she may be heading to her grave. 

The metal cover over the window slides open and she prepares herself to jump quickly out of the metal tomb and run for cover, but instead, she finds a chiseled (beautiful?) face looking down at her, expressionless. They lock eyes and the tension makes her feel as if a Bantha is sitting on her chest and then he turns, and his Knights step forward. The top of her coffin (she's sure it's a coffin now) hisses its opening and the large men pull her roughly from it. 

Rey thinks perhaps coming here was a mistake as her stomach churns and Kylo Ren grabs her roughly by the arm, pulling her into the turbolift. Just the two of them. Alone. His mind is completely closed to her, their bond shut off like a tap. She's not sure which one of them is doing the blocking. Maybe they both are. 

He waits a long time before releasing her arm, staring forward at the white and black metal decorating the walls of the small space. She can feel the waves of tension, conflict, rolling off of him and into her, like he's screaming with his mouth closed.

"You don't have to do this," she is suddenly pleading with him, the suffocation of his internal torment forcing her to speak, "I feel the conflict in you. It's tearing you apart. Ben, when we touched hands, I saw your future." She thinks of his lips on hers, of his bright, beaming smile and she hurts for it. "Just the shape of it, but solid and clear. You will not bow before Snoke. You will turn. I'll help you. I saw it," the words tumble out of her mouth quickly as he stares down at her, and she thinks she sees his eyes flick to her lips as she talks. Her stomach tightens. 

He tilts his head slightly, considering her, "I saw something, too," his voice is low, serious. "Because of what I saw, I know that when the moment comes, you'll be the one to turn. You'll stand with me," he pauses. 

"Rey, I saw who your parents are." 

She can't help the gasp that escapes her as she turns herself away from him to stare at the door to the lift, building the walls higher in her head so he can't feel the pain she's feeling. He said that to hurt her, to distract her, she knows its a lie. She looks at the ground and readies herself for what's to come. 

\---

The room she has just entered is huge and red. So red, like the entire thing is coated in blood. A praetorian guard in suits of armor to match the color of the room stand scattered along its walls, holding massive weapons, completely still. Watching. Protecting. The black floor is much like the rest of the ship, glossy and reflective, but in this room it reflects the blood from the walls, turning the entirety of the room into a deep, scarlet hell.

"Young Rey. Welcome," the booming voice sounds like every nightmare Rey has ever had and it makes her feel nauseous. She keeps her face passive and the walls in her mind strong, trying to avoid looking away from the disgusting creature sitting on his throne in the middle of his hell. Trying to look strong. 

He looks as though he may crumble away to nothing at any moment. His face is long, ghastly pale, and nearly split in two by a deep cavern of a scar. The left side of his face droops slightly and his skin appears tightly stretched over his bone, further adding to the illusion that he may fade away at any moment. But that is all it is..an illusion. The darkness, the power, radiating from him is suffocating, wrapping her tightly in a black cloud and choking her. She already feels him inside of her mind scratching at the walls she has built around her thoughts like a cat on its post. 

"Come closer, child."   
  
She hadn't realized they had stopped walking, Kylo dropping to his knee behind her, his head bowed. 

"So much strength," the creature hisses as she walks forward. "Darkness rises, and light to meet it." His gaze flicks to the man kneeling behind her and she can feel the sudden wave of contempt through Snoke's dark force signature. "I warned my young apprentice that as he grew stronger, his equal in the Light would rise." She feels the Force shift around her and Luke's lightsaber comes flying from behind her into Snoke's long, grey hand. 

"Skywalker, I assumed...wrongly." He flicks his gaze quickly back to her and another wave of nausea rolls through her stomach. "Closer, I said." 

Suddenly she is moving against her will, the darkness locking her arms tightly to her and bringing her closer and closer to this disgusting thing in front of her. A trickle of defiance drips through her. 

"You underestimate Skywalker, and Ben Solo," even without the bond, she can feel the flinch from the man behind her as she uses his birth name in front of his master. "And me," she adds, "it will be your downfall." 

She is directly in front of him now and his eyes, cold and blue, like ice, bore into hers. 

"Oh," he mocks, "have you seen something? A weakness in my apprentice? Is that why you came?"

If not for the feelings of anger boiling through him and into her, she could almost say the look on his face is fear as he picks roughly through the few thoughts he has managed to dislodge inside her mind. Then, a cold and bitter laugh as she feels him pull the memories of the Force bond, the vision of the future.

"Young fool; it was I who bridged your minds. I stoked Ren's conflicted soul. I knew he was not strong enough to hide it from you," he grins. "And you were not wise enough to resist the bait." 

She feels flames of anger licking her back as Kylo boils inside at his master's confession, and the bond roars back to life, her own rage mirroring and pulling from his, growing quickly. 

Once again, the Force locks her in place and she is being pulled into Snoke's sinister hand. It wraps around her jaw, a show of force and power, holding her as he purrs. 

"And now, you will give me Skywalker," he digs his long nails sharply into her scalp, emphasizing the evil in his voice. "And I will kill you will the _cruelest_ stroke." 

"No." She bites out, trying to convey as much resistance as possible through the Force. 

"Yes," he argues and she is in the air, the Force contorting her uncomfortably as he breaks into her mind, ripping every thought she has ever had directly from her brain. He is not gentle, and the pain of him tearing through her memories and her life is unbearable. 

"Give me everything," he growls, low and truly sinister.   
  
She screams and grits her teeth, willing herself to block him out, "no, no, no." 

And then suddenly, his presence in her thoughts is gone. 

She hits the ground as the Force levitating her evaporates and she gasps, sucking in as much air as possible, and rolling onto her stomach. She knows her back will hurt tomorrow and she tries to slow her breathing as Snoke laughs loudly behind her. 

"Well, well, I did not expect Skywalker to be so wise. We will give him and the Jedi Order the death he desires," he gloats and his mockery makes an all new fire start in Rey's chest. She cannot control the fury she feels..the hatred. "After the Rebels are gone, we will go to his planet," he continues, "and obliterate the entire island." 

Rey bursts off of the floor, willing the lightsaber that sits beside the creature to fly into her hand, screaming for it to help her wipe his darkness from the galaxy. The weapon careens right past her, turning and smacking her harshly in the back of the head before returning to his side. 

"Such spunk," he teases. "Look here now," and he is sending her flying over to the oculus by the wall which suddenly comes to life, displaying a horrifying scene of Resistance transports being blown to pieces by TIE fighters, lightyears away. "The entire Resistance on those transports," Snoke declares. "Soon, they will all be gone. For you, all is lost." 

She turns quickly, using the Force to drag Kylo's lightsaber to her hand, igniting it and baring her teeth at the old man. 

"And still that fiery spit of hope!" he shouts, seeming amused by rebellion. "You have the spirit of a true Jedi!" 

He throws her forcefully across the room, the black saber flying from her hand and landing back at its master's feet. 

"And because of that," Snoke growls, "you must die." 

She is lifted, turned, and placed on her knees before Kylo, who looks at her, as expressionless as always. Through the bond, however, she can feel how hard he is fighting to remain passive, stoic. 

"My worthy apprentice, Son of Darkness, Heir Apparent to Lord Vader," Snoke praises Kylo, who remains kneeling, the Force shaking around him. "Where there was conflict, I now sense resolve. Where there was weakness, strength," Kylo's eyes flick between Rey and his master, "complete your training and fulfill your destiny." The command is strong, and Ren's hand reaches immediately for the saber in front of him. 

Kylo rises to his feet, looking down at her, cold and impossible to read, his side of the bond closed tightly. 

"I know what I have to do," he speaks, low and calm. 

She shakes, fear that this man may kill her rising quickly in her stomach, fear that her visions were wrong. 

"Ben," she whispers, a soft plea. 

A cruel chuckle erupts behind her. "You think you can turn him?" 

Inside her mind, Rey is still pleading with Ben, using the bond to scream at him, staring into his eyes. 

_Please, Ben. Please don't. Please. Ben._

"Pathetic child," Snoke seethes. "I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten. I see his mind, I see his every intent." He takes a deep breath, "Yes, I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true." 

The hilt of Ben's saber turns slowly to face Rey, and the fear begins to make her sick. 

_No, no, no. Ben, don't._

"And now, foolish child, he ignites it. And KILLS his true enemy!" Snoke shouts behind her and she flinches, closing her eyes and waiting for a pulse of fire that never comes.

Instead, the Force hold around her body disintegrates, and she collapses, a loud thud echoing behind her. She turns to see the upper half of the creature's body lifeless on the floor and Luke's lightsaber ignited, gliding through the air towards her. She reaches up, grabbing the hilt, and stands, turning in shock to face Ben. 

She stares deeply into his eyes which are filled now with more emotion than she has ever seen them carry. Fear, passion, fury, excitement, and...something else. They turn together as the praetorian guard races towards them, weapons drawn, suits red like blood. 


End file.
